Battles of Manassas • Tour the Battlefield • Monuments • The Armies
Portici is Stop 11 on the Manassas Battlefield Driving Tour. Although this was the location of Confederate Headquarters at the First Battle of Manassas, there is relatively little to see there. It’s also a bit tricky to get to (see map below). Portici was both Confederate Headquarters and a major field hospital for casualties from both sides. Today nothing remains.
Location of Stop 11 – Portici
If you are coming from Stop 10 at Chinn Ridge or from the park’s Visitor Center on Henry Hill take Virginia Rout 234, Sudley Road south. Get in the left lane and turn left (just before the Cracker Barrel) onto Battleview Parkway. Continue 0.85 mile, curving through an office park until the road straightens out next to the Interstate, becoming Vandor lane. turn left onto Rock Road; the turn is marked with a Park Service sign for Stop 11 and Portici. Follow Rock road, which is a two track, about 300 yards to a pull off on the west side. (38°48’22.7″N 77°30’30.4″W) From there trails lead to wayside markers in the field to the east.
There are four wayside markers near the Portici Stop:
Portici wayside marker
This marker is for both the First and Second Battles of Manassas.
Text from the marker:
On the ridge ahead of you stood “Portici,” an important landmark of both battles of Manassas. In 1861, Frank Lewis resided here with his wife Fannie and two small children. Their middling plantation consisted of 769 acres. The family owned eleven slaves to work the property – cultivating grain, herding livestock, and performing domestic chores.
The arrival of war shattered Portici’s peaceful existence. During the First Battle of Manassas, the home served as both a headquarters and a hospital. Thirteen months later, Union and Confederate cavalry clashed in the adjacent fields. Returning to utter devastation at war’s end, the Lewis family began the arduous process of rebuilding their lives, a scene repeated countless times throughout the ravaged South.
A short walk leads to the site of Portici. Exhibits there discuss the property’s role during the two battles. The trail to the left leads to the Ball family cemetery and Holkum’s Branch.
Location of the marker
The Portici wayside marker is at Stop 11 on the east side of Rock Road at the beginning of two trails. (38°48’22.5″N 77°30’30.2″W)
Confederate Headquarters wayside maker
This marker is for the First Battle of Manassas.
Text from the marker:
Portici made an idea headquarters for Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston. From here he had a commanding view of the main roads and surrounding countryside. Throughout the day Confederate regiments passed through the Lewis property en route to the front, and Johnston could forward these reinforcements to any part of the field.
After the battle Portici became a field hospital. Surgeons ministered to the injured of both sides. The wounded filled the plantation outbuildings and covered every floor of the once elegant home.
Sidebar at the bottom of the marker
Among the Federal wounded taken to Portici was artillery Captain James B. Ricketts, wounded in the thigh. His devoted wife Fanny journeyed through the lines to care for her husband. Her diary provides vivid details of the carnage at Portici:
Downstairs there are some forty men in the various stages of death or recovery. Blood runs on the floor, the smell is dreadful but no language can describe it… I was awake all night, the groans of the dying sounding in my ears. No one can dream of the sickening horrors of this place.
Location of the marker
The marker is 250 yards east of the trailhead across the fields. There is nothing left of the mansion; only the marker shows its location. (38°48’26.7″N 77°30’23.0″W)
Cavalry Clash wayside marker
As fighting stalled along Sudley Road, Union and Confederate cavalry partook in the final drama of the battle here on the grounds of Portici. Southern horsemen attempted to dash behind the Union army and cut their escape route. Anticipating this movement, General John Buford deployed his cavalry brigade near Portici to guard Lewis Ford on Bull Run.
The opposing lines crashed together head-on in the nearby fields. Buford’s troopers initially surprised and routed the leading Confederate regiment, only to fall back when the balance of General Beverly Robertson’s brigade appeared. In danger of being cut off, the outnumbered Federals hastened across Bull Run. The Confederates broke off pursuit short of the Warrenton Turnpike. This closing action of Second Manassas represented the largest cavalry engagement of the war up to that point.
Second Battle of Manassas
Day 3
August 30, 1862 6 p.m.
Caption to the photo at lower right
General John Buford was one of the few Union officers to emerge from the Second Manassas Campaign with an enhanced reputation.
Location of the marker
The marker is 250 yards east of the trailhead across the fields. (38°48’26.3″N 77°30’22.4″W)
The Arrival of Jerrerson Davis wayside marker
This marker is for the First Battle of Manassas.
Text from the marker:
In frantic suspense, Confederate President Jefferson Davis found it impossible to remain in Richmond. He secured a special train to Manassas Junction and then proceeded to the battlefield on horseback. As he approached Portici, the president learned of the great Southern victory.
Determined to tour the battleground, Davis and his retinue set off for Henry Hill. As they descended here into the valley of Hokums Branch, the group encountered a crowd of soldiers congregated around the stream, including “Stonewall” Jackson, who was receiving treatment for a broken finger from Dr. Hunter McGuire.
The physician recalled that Jackson “stood up at once, he took off his cap and saluted the president and said: “We have whipped them; they ran like dogs. Give me 10,000 men and I shall take Washington City tomorrow!” Despite Jackson’s bold proclamation, the Confederates lacked the organization to pursue the defeated Union Army.
Caption to the background photo
West Point Museum Art Collection, United States Military Academy, West Point, New York
Location of the marker
The “Arrival of Jerrerson Davis” wayside marker is located at the end of Rock Road about 1/3 mile past the Portici Trail Head. (38°48’38.5″N 77°30’36.6″W)